The Experience Economy Decade
Brandon Joldersma@bjoldersma
+0.5%
since Sep 30
The idea
I believe technology keeps eating everyday life, which makes the things it can't replace, live sport, concerts, travel, a great meal out, the scarcest and most valuable way people spend. So this basket owns the whole chain of a night out or a trip: the leagues and teams that are the scarce content, the ticketing gatekeepers and venues, the travel and hotels around the event, restaurants, and destination experiences.
What it owns
- Teams and leagues are one-of-a-kind assets that cannot be replicated, so their value rises as live moments become more prized. · TKO Group HoldingsIt owns UFC and WWE, live events where fans travel to see in person and pay premium ticket prices., Liberty Media Formula OneIt operates a fixed number of races per year worldwide, so supply cannot expand and hosting fees grow as demand for scarce live sport rises., Madison Square Garden SportsIt owns the Knicks and Rangers, marquee teams whose games are one-of-one experiences in the largest US market., Atlanta Braves HoldingsIt owns a major sports team and its ballpark district outright, providing a direct claim on one of the scarcest assets in the market., Manchester UnitedIt is a single team with a global fanbase in the hundreds of millions, the kind of scarce sports content that becomes more valuable as live attendance rises.25%
- Most major experiences require a trip, so hotels and booking platforms benefit from the same shift in spending toward live events. · AirbnbIt captures lodging for travelers attending concerts, games, and events that draw people to cities and overwhelm traditional hotel supply., Booking HoldingsIt takes a cut from flights, hotels, and rentals booked around events, growing as experience-driven travel increases., Marriott InternationalIt operates the largest hotel footprint around major events and destinations, so room occupancy and pricing reflect whether travel spending keeps growing., Hilton WorldwideIt provides the second major hotel operator at events and destinations, reducing concentration risk while serving the same travel demand.23%
- Venues and ticket platforms collect a toll on every live event, regardless of who performs or what happens on stage. · Live Nation EntertainmentIt sells tickets and operates venues for the concerts people will keep paying premium prices to attend in person., Sphere EntertainmentIt operates the Sphere in Las Vegas, an experience that cannot be digitized or replicated and depends on residency bookings and geographic expansion., Madison Square Garden EntertainmentIt owns Madison Square Garden and Radio City, fixed-supply venues with decades of proof that people pay for seats inside them.17%
- Cruises, mountains, and parks sell the one-off memories that drive spending on experiences rather than goods. · Royal CaribbeanIt sells packaged cruise experiences that cannot be replicated digitally, bundling the ship, destinations, and the full week together., Vail ResortsIt owns ski mountains where supply cannot expand, so pass sales and pricing power depend on demand for scarce terrain., Six Flags EntertainmentIt operates theme parks as the everyday end of the experience economy, capturing the same shift at a lower price point than concerts or ski trips.15%
- Restaurants represent the everyday layer of the experience economy, the spending people repeat weekly rather than yearly. · Darden RestaurantsIt operates casual and upscale restaurants where dining out remains a core part of how people spend time and money., Texas RoadhouseIt runs restaurants with consistent weekend waits, showing that people choose nights out and keep filling locations., Brinker InternationalIt operates Chili's restaurants, a bet that holds only if people genuinely increase dining out rather than eating at home.14%
- Cash6%